Jonathan Long is the founder of Uber Brands, a brand-development agency focusing on ecommerce.
Whether you are a new startup or an established business, you are undoubtedly harnessing the power of the Internet to operate, manage and market your business. By simplifying and streamlining certain aspects, it allows you to focus more of your time and energy on growth.
Here are six free tools that you should consider using that can help you grow your business online.
1. Groove.
Poor customer support can typically be attributed to a business being unorganized. Letting a single support email slip through the cracks can lead to upset customers and even unfavorable online reviews. Groove is free help desk software that is extremely simple to use and has all the features you need to stay on top of your customer service tickets.
You can easily morph your existing email into a professional customer service help desk. This not only keeps you organized, but also makes your business look more professional. Additional features include social media, live chat, phone and SMS integration, allowing you to handle everything customer service related in one easy to manage tool.
2. Hootsuite.
One thing is certain — your business needs to be active on social media. It simply isn’t an option any longer, so wouldn’t it be wise to make your social media management as simple as possible? After all, entrepreneurs wear several hats and need to allocate their time to multiple tasks daily.
Hootsuite is one of the more popular social media management tools and their free plan is packed with features, allowing you to engage with and monitor all of your social accounts in one dashboard. You can also use the auto-scheduling feature to plan all of your social media posts far in advance, freeing up more time for your urgent day-to-day responsibilities.